Circle is partnering with Sasai Fintech to expand the exploit of the USDC stablecoin across African payment corridors, focusing on remittances, business transactions and mobile wallet services.
According to Tuesday announcementthe collaboration will integrate the second-largest stablecoin with Sasai’s existing payment infrastructure, which supports cross-border transfers, enterprise payments and consumer wallets, to reduce settlement costs and times.
Sasai operates in multiple African markets, providing digital payment services that will be integrated with Circle’s onchain infrastructure.
The companies said they will explore practical applications of USDC (USDC) using Circle’s full-stack platform as stablecoin adoption grows in Africa along with growing demand for cross-border payments and mobile-first financial services.
The United Nations has set a goal to reduce the average cost of remittance transactions to less than 3% globally. However, costs remain high, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. “Sierra Leone, Uganda, Angola, Botswana and Zambia are among the economies with the highest transaction costs, all exceeding 7% in 2023.” According to to the June 2025 World Bank report.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company is focused on fast-growing payment corridors in emerging markets, while Cassava Technologies CEO Strive Masiyiwa said the integration could expand access to digital financial services for businesses and consumers.
Data from DefiLlama can be seen USDC is the second largest stablecoin by market capitalization of approximately $78.6 billion, trailing only Tether’s USDT (USDT) of approximately $184.1 billion.
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The rise of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in Africa
Cryptocurrency adoption in sub-Saharan Africa has accelerated rapidly, up 52% in the 12 months to June 2025, with the region receiving over $205 billion in onchain value, according to a September report by Chainalytic.
Nigeria generated more than $92 billion of this activity, followed by South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana, with the exploit of funds mainly driven by remittances, cross-border payments and the need for hedging against currency fluctuations.
This growth is of increasing interest to crypto companies expanding in the region. Earlier this month, Blockchain.com entered Ghana as part of a broader African move, following a more than 700% boost in brokerage transaction volume in Nigeria since the launch of retail services there.
Regulators are also starting to formalize the sector. In March, the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 cryptocurrency trading platforms to enter the regulatory sandbox under the newly adopted Virtual Asset Service Providers Act.
At the user level, both Bitcoin and stablecoins are growing in popularity for everyday financial exploit. In January, former UN Under-Secretary-General Vera Songwe said remittances had become “more important than aid” in Africa, with stablecoins becoming a faster and cheaper alternative to classic transfers.
In March, on Natalie Brunell’s Coin Stories podcast, Africa Bitcoin Corporation executive chairman Stafford Masie said that bitcoin was used as money in some local economies.
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